1989 was a great year in the career of legendary wrestler Terry Funk. Although Terry and his brother Dory Funk Jr. had achieved great international success in All Japan Pro Wrestling, they were not such big stars in the United States. Terry had a brief stint in WWE between 1985 and 1986, challenging Hulk Hogan for the WWE title several times on live shows, but was never promoted as a star on television. However, Terry debuted in WCW for the first time in May 1989, and would become involved in a feud with Ric Flair that saw him headline four major shows in 1989, including an “I Quit” Match at Clash of the Champions #9 that was rated five stars by Dave Meltzer .
In 1989, Terry Funk appeared on WCW and attacked Ric Flair.
Funk and Flair’s feud began at WrestleWar 1989, after Flair defeated Ricky Steamboat to win the World Heavyweight Championship in the last of their incredible trio of matches in 1989. Funk was one of the judges for the match and went on the ring to challenge Flair. for the belt. Flair denied this, claiming that he had spent too much time in Hollywood with Sylvester Stallone, since Funker starred in the 1987 film. Excessive. Looking for a handshake, Funk hit Flair with a vicious left hand and proceeded to pummel him out of the ring before shoving him into a table. 1989 also saw Funk appear on the big screen again, doing what he did best: punch people, in Patrick Swayze’s classic film. road house.
We are introduced to Funk’s character, Morgan, quite early on in road house. Swayze’s character, Dalton, was hired to clean up the Double Deuce, a rough-and-tumble bar in Jasper, Missouri. When Dalton arrived, Morgan was kicking a patron out of the bar, telling him to never come back (with some colorful language). It turned out that this was quite common in the DD, thus the reason why Dalton was hired with his reputation as “The Cooler”. Shortly after Dalton’s entrance, Morgan is seen fighting the boys by the pool table, clearly enjoying it. Later, hilariously, he poked his head behind a guy as he creepily flirted with a woman, before Morgan beat him up and kicked him out. Morgan, who didn’t think much of Dalton, threatened to kick him out if he didn’t drink.
Terry Funk had several scenes with Patrick Swayze in ‘Road House’
Double Deuce owner Frank Tilghman gave Dalton full authority to run the bar his way and clean it up as he saw fit. He was there to watch that first night, and it was pretty clear that he and Morgan weren’t going to see eye to eye. Dalton ran into an old friend who played in the DD band and told him that every night there was blood on the floor. It was apparent that Morgan was a major catalyst for the violence, and the night ended with a massive brawl throughout the bar. Morgan was throwing people, headbutting, punching and even hitting someone with a press slam.
One of the other Double Deuce employees told Morgan that they heard Dalton once killed a guy by ripping out his throat. Morgan didn’t buy it and replied that he hadn’t seen much yet. Although, it was clear that Morgan was threatened by Dalton. Morgan walked past Dalton at the end of the night telling him (very colorfully) that she doesn’t think much of him. The next night, Dalton led a staff meeting at the Double Deuce, and the first thing he did was fire Morgan. “Morgan, you’re getting out of here. You don’t have the temperament for the trade, there’s always hairdressing school.” Morgan stood in front of Dalton and told him that he was a dead man before storming off.
Terry Funk’s character became one of the villains of ‘Road House’
the villain of road house it was crime boss Brad Wesley, who was also previously involved with Dalton’s love interest, Dr. Elizabeth Clay, aka Doc. While Dalton continued to challenge Wesley, Wesley continually made things difficult for Dalton and his acquaintances in the city. He cut off the distribution of alcoholic beverages from the DD and, naturally, Wesley was responsible. His goons appeared at the bar, and low and lo, Morgan had joined the crew. As expected, Morgan tossed a liquor bottle to the ground and a melee broke out. While Morgan and company had the upper hand, Dalton’s friend Wade came to his aid and the two took care of everyone.
Morgan also showed up at the bar with Wesley to cause trouble, as well as helping to destroy the local car dealership, where Dalton was friends with the owner. It all came to a head during a final fight at Wesley’s house, where Morgan suffered an off-screen death, as Dalton picked off Wesley’s goons one by one.
It was an excellent Funk take on a character that hit the spot: a tough guy who likes to beat people up. Prayers for The Funker who has been dealing with recent health issues.